The Game's Afoot Chapter 1: Can you hide?
by AllmyTime
Summary: Psychological Thriller/ Romance/ Johnlock/ Death/ Spoilers/ Drug Use When on a case, Sherlock tries to run from his feelings for John, straight into an admission to Watson himself.
1. Can you hide?

Pacing in his flat at 221B, Sherlock found he was once again excited by a case. He was about to ask if Watson was available to go with him, but he had been letting John have some time to grieve over his newly deceased wife, Mary. He felt this especially important considering the trauma that his sister had put John in only a few weeks ago.

He decided it better to go on alone for this particular case, and made the proper concoction of illicit substances to clear his mind and allow him better access to his mind temple. The one, possibly only thing that Sherlock disliked about doing this was that he made himself more susceptible to his emotions. In order to fight crime, his own demons had to be consistently embraced, particularly one emotion that he held for John Watson.

As he self-medicated, he found it helpful to do some deep breathing, in order to keep himself in check.

Eventually having found his way to the crime scene, located strangely enough in a dilapidated skyscraper, he found himself being briefed by Greg Lestrade about the case, as per usual.

"Three people were found deceased in this building." Greg said "We located and excavated all three, but then we got twenty texts from different phones, all pinpointed directly to the top level of the building."

"And you insist upon me going up there to find out what's going on?" Sherlock inquired.

"Well that's where the problem comes in" Greg said with a sigh, "We don't like to involve 'consulting detectives' in possible hostage situations, but every one of the text messages requested you by name."

"Okay, I'm gonna need a cuppa" Sherlock said in his usually smart-aleck manner "my hat, and a pre-paid phone. Actually scratch that, just get me my hat… I'll take it from there. Now before I help you, is there anything else that might be vital to this case?"

"Well it's the calls…" Lestrade was nearly in tears at this point "The texts asked, did you miss me, over and over again… Do you think it's Eurus?"

"That's impossible, she's locked up and safe, I visit her once a month."

Sherlock looked at his phone which had just received a message,

 _Did you miss me? Come and find me Sherlock, the game's not quite over yet…_

Sherlock was puzzled, but any chance to once again defeat his mortal enemy, Jim Moriarity, was a chance he was going to take, especially being that the odds of his resurrection was unlikely at best, and Holmes was curious to find the culprit for this particular stolen identity case.

Entering the building, it reminded him of one of his first cases with John. How Watson had been so amazed at Sherlock's ability to determine important character details at a drop of a pin. He had felt almost sick to his stomach when John found out the way he had been so successful for so long. Holmes wanted the doctor to like him, but he feared that he was unlikeable in the worst ways.

At a rapid pace, the detective climbed each individual floor, searching for something that would give away the status of his archenemy, but nothing came.

However…

The fourth floor, it seemed unlike any other floor that was in the building, being bare except for a few post-it's on the wall. Sherlock was immediately terrified. He had seen these before… In fact he had seen them ever since meeting John Watson. Every note on the wall would ask the same thing, the thing they always asked "Can you hide?" He stopped trying to keep up with the notes a long time ago, knowing that they were figments of a dilapidated brain trying to make sense of a world of hidden emotions.

As Sherlock eventually rose to the sixteenth and final floor, he was met with a rather discomforting surprise. Nobody. No phones. Nothing. Looking out the window, he found that not even the police were there anymore. And yet he still couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching his every move.

"Sherlock!" A voice shouted behind him. "You know I died, and a long time ago I might add" Jim Moriarty said in a playful voice "Then let me ask you something, you know what you need to do you know why I'm still in your mind, why haven't you done it? Why haven't you told John Watson? Do you really think you can hide?"

"John is still in love with Mary, he will always be…." Sherlock faced at his apparition and stated, "And I have no right to meddle in his life. Especially being that everyone close to me ends up with horrible emotional and physical pain. I can't do that to him. I love him way too much for that. Can I hide? I don't know, but I can try my hardest to not make my best friends life worse then I already have."

Behind Sherlock, the door to the upper layer slowly cracked open, alerting Sherlock to John Watson's presence in the building.

"JOHN! Please tell me you didn't hear anything…" Sherlock begged.

"You said that you loved me, that you would do anything to keep me from pain…" John answered.

Sherlocks face turned a bright red, holding his breath as he feared whatever would come next.

"Why didn't you realize that by hiding the truth you were causing more pain then you ever could in any other way. Holmes, after everything we've been through together… I love you Sherlock, and it hurt me more to think that was never going to be reciprocated than the millions of other things we've been through, because at least I had you to go through them with."

Sherlock ran to John and they kissed passionately in each other's embrace.


	2. The first solution

"Not that I'm not happy that you've found me, but why are you here?" Sherlock inquired.

"You passed me on the way out of 221B," John stated sheepishly, "and Mary suggested that I follow behind."

"You're still having psychosomatic problems about the death…" Sherlock looked his partner in the eyes "I'm still so sorry about her passing…"

"Yeah well sorry won't bring her back," John sighed, and then said with a hopeful smile "and we've got a future ourselves to look forward to."

They both smiled at each other for a moment, until Sherlock suddenly broke the silence.

"No… I mean I do care about you, very much, but my work isn't done." Sherlock stated longingly, with a twinge of sadness in his voice.

"What are you on about? What work?" John emphatically asked.

Sherlock started to rant, "Have you ever wondered why I don't take certain cases, and revel in others? Why I have trained myself through heavy medication, and years of detective practice to use mind palaces, and other sleuthing techniques? More importantly have you wondered why I didn't involve you in my life until it was absolutely necessary after my fake death? It was to protect you John, Eurus wasn't the end of it, and neither was Jim. There are others, people like the Shark, people who don't want me to keep chasing them. And I can't give up, until you're safe, God I don't know what I'd do if I lost you John, you're my best friend, and my biggest weakness."

"Sherlock, who are you talking about?" John wasn't about to give his love for Sherlock up that easily, "What group or individual can do anything that Moriarity or the Holmes sister couldn't?"

Sherlock was desperate at this point, "There was a reason that Moriarty found me out of a million slueths, and that Eurus waited so long before targeting us. When I had been contemplating the 'ressurection' of Jim, I found that it wasn't a singular person that could be responsible, but that wasn't an original finding, I had known about it for decades. Ever since redbeard, children don't kill unless provoked, not even Eurus. And I don't know if I can ever beat them John… I just don't know…"

John wore a quizzical expression and hessitantly asked the question that seemed to be obvious to everyone but Sherlock, possibly because he didn't even know the answer, "What's the name of the group?"

Sherlock paused, slumped against a wall, sighed, then slowly stated between sobs, "I have… no idea…"

Stunned that for once in his life, John's partner had no clue about a rather crucial case, he had no words. He could only sit leaning against the wall, and comfort Sherlock by holding his hand and assuring him that he was there in the decrepit building with the superslueth, and would try to always be there for him.

As Sherlock was held by the man he loved, he found that he couldn't help but feel the doubts he held over himself and his own fate slipping away.

"Mary told me to save you" Sherlock said.

"And that's exactly what you're doing" John stared into Sherlock's loving eyes.

Approximately an hour later, John and Sherlock were back in the flat, sitting next to one another on the couch. Mrs. Hudson was minding her own business as always fixing tea and biscuits for the detective and his new boyfriend.

"I always knew you two were fitted for each other" Mrs. Hudson shouted from in the kitchen "If you saw the way you looked at each oth"

"Please shut up Mrs. Hudson" John and Sherlock interrupted in unison.

"Oh alright then, spoilsports, have it your way!" Mrs. Hudson snapped.

Suddenly a bright explosion rocked the night skies.

"Probably just a firework," Sherlock suggested "or some violent protestors… Wait… this is very important… John, do you remember how many cars were gathered outside of 221B when we entered?"

"I think it was three?" John hesitated then inquired " Why?"

"…Because then it wasn't a firework, or a protest!" Sherlock exclaimed in panic, then springing to his feet whispered to Watson "John… get up and stay behind me… This might get bad"

"Sherlock what's going on?" Mrs. Hudson inquired cautiously.

"Mmmm… Oh nothing… it's just that you should have told us about the renovations being done on the roof!" Sherlock exclaimed.

"But there's nothing up there but a…" Mrs. Hudson stopped short.

"Exactly…" Sherlock sighed "Now, I've no time to explain. The explosion gives up a few brief moments to leave before this becomes a much worse situation than I care to bring my boyfriend to. Watson, with me, quick!"

Opening the door to the hallway and quickly running down the stairs to freedom, the two men were chased by echoing footsteps from the above hallway and the ascending stairs. However, they made it outside without a scratch. Quickly getting into a cab they directed the driver to the nearest park.

"Okay, now that we're not running for our lives…" John panted, out of breath from the chase, "how did you know that there were going to be people following us? And what was that explosion?"

"Try to keep up my darling," Sherlock sighed and continued, "three cars were parked outside of the flat when we had gotten there. However, two weeks ago, that spot had become a no park zone. When doped up, I had thought that the cars simply happened to be present, but three cars parked illegally, directly outside of the flat? No it was a message and a deadly one at that."

"How could you tell what the message was?" John inquired panicked.

"I had suspicions until the firework," Sherlock stated with a smile, he loved telling John his deductions, "when after a few minutes I remembered the floor plan of the roof. The building is built like a bomb shelter, nobody can get in or out without permission, unless they use the stairs to the terrace, which are typically bolted up, but with one good blast from heavy artillery… It's a good thing we got out in time. However, I can happily say that there are two mistakes that have been made in this situation. The first, the controlling party has yet to correct their loose threads. The second, nobody messes with my boyfriend and gets away with it. Care to accompany me on this adventure Watson?"

Sherlock gave Watson a caring smile, extending his right hand, and Watson took the hand and exclaimed, "My pleasure!"

To Watson this would be the type of case it always was, and to Sherlock it offered a solution. The first solution he had seen in a long, long, time.


End file.
